Why?

It started on his third birthday.  He immediately went from regular conversations to asking “why?” Everything was “why?” Many of us promised ourselves we would never use those old lines our parents used, but it didn’t take long until one of my mom’s favorites popped into my head: “because I’m the Mom and I said so.” 

It can be frustrating to constantly answer the “why” question, especially as the parent of a toddler or when the question is simply a means to undermine authority (asking the police officer why the speed limit isn’t 75 in the school zone where you were pulled over is hardly profitable). 

But in all honesty, it’s our job to ask why.  If we don’t evaluate, asking the “why?” questions behind what’s going on, we’re in bad shape. In the 1960s Yale psychologist Stanley Millgram conducted a famous series of experiments.  In these experiments, volunteers were instructed to give shocks when the test subjects got answers wrong.  In reality, the test subjects were actors, and there were no real shocks administered, but the volunteers did not know this.  If at any time the volunteer hesitated, he was told that he had to continue.  And so, not questioning the orders, one after another continued administering “shocks” well into the dangerous levels, even continuing after hearing the actor pleading for them to stop.

Through this research, Millgram learned that people were very obedient to authority, even blindly obedient.  Nobody asked “why?” There is a time and a place to ask “why?”

In this sermon series, we aim to ask “why?” There are some important questions in life and we need to ask why.  Today we’re going to take a look from 40,000 feet above, kind of a big-picture view of the overall “why.”  Then we’ll come in a little closer to earth to take a more detailed look at some more why questions: why the church, why does ministry cost, why did Jesus have to die, and why the Bible. 

Let’s get started with the big “Why?”  What is the meaning of everything?  That sounds like an easy task for a Sunday morning, doesn’t it?  We’ll start with why God created.

God created everything for His enjoyment and to bring Him glory. It’s as simple as that.  If someone asks what the meaning of life is, it’s to love God and bring Him glory.  That’s what it’s all about.  When God created everything, he pronounced it all good, except for humanity, whom he pronounced very good.  In the Bible, out of 66 books, we get two wonderful chapters of everything like it’s meant to be.  God created everything to point to Him, so everything we see, taste, touch, and experience would cause us to thank Him, so that we might know he is and that we would worship him for his goodness. 

Adam and Eve are in right relationship with God, enjoying his presence. 

But then sin enters the world, and everything everything is messed up.  When I say everything, I mean just that.  Everything that was meant for good, for God’s glory, is perverted.  Nature was meant to reflect God’s glory, to move us to worship, but now it’s something to be ignored or exploited. We were in Sedona a few years back, and I asked a guy if the amazing view ever got old; he said, “it’s office buildings.”  God created sex for us to enjoy – fancy that – but it has become perverted.  God gave us food for our enjoyment, and the intended response to us eating food was to enjoy it and thank God for it.  Those before-meal prayers?  God created food so we would pray after our meals; food itself was created to move us to praise. But now food leads to indifference or gluttony.  This is why Paul writes to the church in Corinth: Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)  That was what everything was meant for; the glory of God.

I know we’ve gone over this before, but it’s important that we go over again what glory means. It can be one of those churchy words that we say but have no idea what it means.  The idea of glory is really a simple concept; it’s weight or weightiness.  It’s gravity.  Think of it in this way: The sun has more glory than the earth; because the sun has more weight, it has a stronger gravitational pull, so the earth and all the planets revolve around the sun.  And God is weightier than all of that. 

This is why humility is important; the earth does not revolve around us.  We do not have that glory.  It’s God’s and God’s alone.

The meaning of life, then, is to give to God the weight that he deserves.  That’s why the Bible can tell us that whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 

What would your life look like if you did everything for the glory of God?  Would you still do all the same things you do?  Many, many Christians simply go about their lives, asking God to “bless” whatever it is that they’ve already chosen to do.  They don’t allow Him to have any say in their lives.  This isn’t giving God glory.  This is saying, “I have the most weight in this relationship.  I only respect God as an advisor, but not a very good one, because I make the rules and decisions based on what I want.”  If this is the way you live, you’re probably not a Christian.  Honestly.  If we believe the Bible, there are a lot fewer Christians than those who profess to be Christians.  If we believe Jesus, that is. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:21-23)

In other words, it’s time for evaluation.  Are you doing what brings God glory?  Or do you keep busy doing so-called church work, all the while exhibiting fruit that doesn’t bring God glory at all?  Are you someone who goes to church, yet you’re not bringing God glory?  What would happen if you made all your decisions based on what would bring God glory?

I’m not even talking about just the major decisions, but even the little ones.  When you sit down to watch TV or go to the movies, ask, “Will this bring God glory?” When you spend any money, ask “Does this revolve around God or around me?”

In your relationships, ask, “Is God glorified in this relationship?” If the answer is “no” then you’ve got to ask, “How can God be glorified in this relationship?” If you’re in a dating relationship you’ve got to be asking that question.  Too many dating relationships are selfish – asking, “what’s this do for me?” instead of “How does this acknowledge God’s weight?” Do your relationships revolve around the Almighty God, or the Almighty Me?

Evaluate your friendships, too.  There are too many friendships where God isn’t glorified at all.  Your conversations are filled with poison, gossip, negative talk, put-downs or even just idle talk and nonsense.  How about this: pray for your friendships, that all of them will bring God glory or that at least you will bring God glory in all of your friendships.  That they will revolve around God.  This isn’t to say that you can’t talk about the big game or about your kids or other things, and it’s not to say that your friends are just “projects” because that doesn’t honor God or bring him glory either.  But if your friends don’t even know that you love God, what kind of fruit are you demonstrating?  Are you in orbit around Him, or are you just floating in space aimlessly?

Some of you have hobbies; do they bring God glory?  I know I’ve been guilty of playing sports because I like the sport.  Once I was in a soccer game, and this guy on the other team was completely annoying me.  He was playing dirty and he kept pushing me and kicking me in the ankles.  It got so ugly – to the point where I almost got into a fight with him.  How ridiculous is that?  Not only was the game not bringing any glory to God, it wasn’t much fun for me.  The next week we had a make-up game for a game that had been rained out earlier that season.  I was on my way, and I started praying.  Mostly selfishly, mind you.  I was praying that I would have a good time, and I was pretty confident that I would as long as we weren’t playing against that red team.  But then, pretty much as an afterthought, I prayed that God would be glorified in the game. Wouldn’t you know it, the team that we were up against was that same red team?

As I stepped up for the kick-off, I saw that same guy across the line from me, and I knew I had to do something.  So I walked across to him and said, “Hey, I want to apologize for last week’s game.  I was a total jerk, and I’m sorry.”  He admitted that he, too, had been out of line and said that he’d never gotten into it with anyone in a soccer game before.  But I continued, telling him “I’m a Christian, but my actions last week didn’t match up to my beliefs whatsoever.” We shook hands, and we had fun playing the game.  We even stuck around to play another game together as friends.  God answered the prayer, that He would be glorified through my soccer game.

And does the Church bring God glory?  Does our church really bring God glory?  Do we revolve around Him in everything, or are we more about our personal preferences?  It grieves my heart when I hear people complaining about worship style.  Friends, if an all-rap worship service would bring God the most glory, then I would be first on board.  Not because I like rap music, but because I’m more interested in what would bring God glory.  It grieves my heart when I see people who “sit in the pews” and aren’t living out the Christian life – nowhere in the Bible do I read the phrase “go to church.” God calls his people to be the church. 

In Romans 15:5-6, Paul prays this: May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A spirit of unity can only be achieved one way: by following the Holy Spirit.  Otherwise our own agendas get into the way, and we start trying to influence the church to cater to me, mine, and ours, focusing on ourselves instead of asking God how we can glorify him in the world.

What would our church look like if we started praying, as a church, for God to send people our way?  To send us the people who need God.  This is a big reason why we have a food pantry – not just to feed people’s bodies, but to feed their souls.  Pray that we would be able to reach out to people who need the Lord! 

I’m reminded that Jesus, upon looking upon the crowds, had compassion on them.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”  (Matthew 9:37-38)

We have essentially no children’s ministry in our church – thankfully we are ministering wonderfully to our preschoolers, but we have little else.  We had to shut down Faith Weavers, our wonderful ministry to school children, because we didn’t have the workers.  I would love to have the problem that we have too many people who want to do ministry and to not have enough space for all of them or having to redirect people to different ministries because so many of you are committed to bringing God glory by ministering to young people.

Will you join me in praying, asking the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the plentiful fields?

Let us do whatever it takes to bring glory to God - let everything we are revolve around Him.